Gas and liquid contact apparatus



Dec. 10, 1940.

H. GALSON GAS AND LIQUID CONTACT APPARATUS Filed June 7, 1939 INVENTOR6490/19 A. q'Q/so z ATTORNEY Patented n... 10, 1940 UNITED STATES" IPATENT OFFICE Carrier Corporation, tion of Delaware Syracuse, N. Y.', acorpora- Application June 7, 1939, Serial No. 277,898 3 Claims. (01.261-103) This invention relates to the conditioning of air or othergases, and more particularly to gas and liquid contact apparatus.

The general object of the'invention is to provide an improved gas andliquid contact apparatus capable of effecting efficient humidificationof a stream of air or other gas passed therethrough.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved gas andliquid contact apparatus which oflers relatively little resistance tothe flow of air therethrough, and which is adapted to eifect removal ofdirt particles and other foreign matter from the air.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved gas andliquid contact apparatus suitable for humidifying and similar purposes,in which liquid to be evaporated is spread over a relatively largesurface from which it is 0 evaporated into the stream of gas passingthrough the apparatus proximate such surface, the now of gas through theapparatus being substantially unimpeded.

It is another object of the invention to pro-,

25 vide an improved gas and liquid contact apparatus particularly wellsuited for humidification I purposes, which is relatively simple andinexpensive to construct, and which, in operation, is entireiy reliable.7

It is another object of the invention to provide a humidifying unitwhich may quickly and easily be assembled and disassembled for purposesof cleaning, inspection, repair or replacement.

. A feature of the invention resides in the pro- 35 vision of aplurality of parallel spaced screens of suitable material such as wireor the like, and means for wetting the surfaces of said screens, thescreens being arranged so that the air to be treated by the wettedsurfaces thereof passes 40 in a plurality of streams through the spacesbetween adjacent screens.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of ahumidifying device including a plurality of screens of wire or'the like,arranged insubstantial parallelism in spaced relation with each other toprovide a plurality of passageways therebetween for the flow-of air orother gas which is to be humidified, the screens being maintained indesired spaced relationship by crimping portions of the screens, thecrimped portions serving as spacer elements.

By virtue of this arrangement, assembly of a humidifier unit inaccordance with the invention may be accomplished simply and quickly,for it is necessary only to insert the screens one behind invention willbe more apparent from the following description to be read in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, in which: r

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of an airconditioning apparatus embodying 1 the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view, partly in section, of the apparatusof Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of one of the v gas and liquid contactunits adapted to be empioyed in the apparatus of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;I

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of one of the crimped screens employedin the unit of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 7 diagrammatically illustrates the application of the invention ina modified manner.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral l0 designates generally acasing having an airinlet opening ll formed in the lower portion of pmof the walls thereof, and a plurality of air outlet openings l2 formedin the upper portion of the casing. The casing contains one or more fansl3 driven in any suitable manner. As shown, three fans are provided,driven by motor l4, connected by belt l5 to the shaft l6 upon which therotary portions of the fans are mounted. Preferably, the inlet openingll of the casing is provided with a suitable grille ll of any desiredtype. Fans I3 draw air through the inlet opening ll upwardly through theinterior of the cabinet Ill, and then discharge such air through theoutletopenings l2.

Within the cabinet l0 above the inlet opening ll, are-provided one ormore contact units generally. designated l8. These are preferablyremovably mounted within the cabinet M as upon flange supports IS. Thebottom portion of cabinet I0 comprisesa sump to which water is suppliedthrough supply line 2| under the control of a suitable float-controlledvalve or the like 22. Water is withdrawn from the sump 20, through thestrainer 23, by pump. 24 and is supplied through line 25 to spray header26. The sprayed water passes through the contact devices l8, and theunevaporated portion thereof returns to the sump 20 for recirculation.

Above the spray header 23 is provided an eliminator 21 adapted toprevent the passage of entrained water particles to the outlet end ofthe cabinet iii. If desired, 'a heater 23 for heating the Water suppliedto spray header 23 may be provided. Fittings 23 provide for the suitablesupply and return of any desired heating medium, such as steam. It is tobe understood that an electrical heating device, or any other suitableheating means may be employed.

If desired, heating coils may be provided within the cabinet Ill forheating the air or other gas passed therethrough. Steam or othersuitable heating medium is supplied to the coils 30 through connection3!, and is relieved from the coil 33 through connection 32.

Fig. 3 illustrates, in perspective, one of the contact units employed inthe apparatus above described. Each unit comprises a pair of sidemembers 33 having flanges 3d and 35 at the upper and lower portionsthereof respectively. Within the side walls 33, and supported betweenthe flanges and 35, are a plurality of screens 36 extending across theunit 88 and arranged so as to provide a plurality of substantiallyparallel passages 37 therebetween. The air circulated through theapparatus by the fans I3 is drawn upwardly through the passages 31formed between the screens 36. Preferably the screens 36 are arrangedsubstantially in parallelism, and preferably the .passages 31 are all ofuniform width. a

The ends of each unit l8 are closed by end members 38 having flangeportions 39. Bolts 40 extending through the side walls 33 and the flangeportions 33 of the end members 38, serve to hold the end members 38, andhence the screens 36, in place in the unit. One end member 33 isprovided at each end of the unit.

To insure the maintenance of the desired spacing between adjacentscreens, each of the screens is crimped or bent at a plurality ofpoints. The crimped portions thus formed, indicated at M,

serve to space the screens automatically and with,

the utmost simplicity. Thus, in assembling the unit 18, one of the endmembers 38 is bolted to the side walls 33 and the crimped screens arethen inserted between the opposite side walls 33 and flanges 34 and 35.The screens thus supplied within the outer casing will be automaticallyspaced from each other by the crimped portions 4| thereof, and when asuflicient number of screens have been supplied the other end member 38is bolted to the side walls .33. The unit is then completely assembledin a firm, secure and permanent manner, and may. be stored, shipped orused as desired. If for any reason it is desired to disassemble theunit, this may also be done very readily so as to facilitate inspection,repair or replacement of any of the parts of the unit.

It will be appreciated that as assembled the crimped portions 4| ofadjacent screens must not be in line with each other, since this wouldcause nesting of the screens and prevent the maintenance of the desiredspaced relationship therebetween. Accordingly, the crimped portions 5!hand crimped portion M and the left hand end of the screen 36 is lessthan the distance between the right hand crimped portion ill and theright hand end of the screen 36. The screens as thus uniformly crimpedduring manufacture, may be nested and stored conveniently and compactly.However, when the screens are arranged for insertion in a unit i8,alternate screens are rotated through an angle of so as to produce thestaggered arrangement of the crimped portions which is shown in Figs. 3and 5.

While any suitable material may be used for forming the screens, theseare preferably formed of relatively fine wire having a diameter, for example, of the order of .047 inch and galvanized after weaying. Thescreens are spaced within the unit i8 so that there are preferablyapproximately live to the inch.

The vast surface of the screen assembly past which the air flows,provides for eflicient vaporization of the liquid with which the surfaceis Wetted. At the same time, the resistance to air flow through theparallel air passages is relatively low due to the fact that the airpassages 37 are of substantial thickness and extend uninterruptedly inthe direction of the initial air flow.

Further, since the spaces between theadjacent screens are relativelylarge, the unit does not clog up, either because of deposits in thewater or air-borne impurities, the size of the air passages 31 beingsuflicient to permit larger particles, as well as the small particles,to be washed down from the surfaces of the screens and to be depositedin the sump 20.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with acounter-current flow of air and liquid, and while the screens have beenshown as arranged in vertical position, it is to be understood that theinvention is not thus limited. Fig,

'7, for example, illustrates an alternative form of the invention inwhich the unit I8 is arranged in such manner that the screens 36 arehorizontally disposed. A fan 42 forcibly circulates air through the unitI8 and a spray header 43 supplies spray to the unit H3, in the samedirection as the air flow. As in the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1,the eliminator 21 removes entrained water particles from air which haspassed through the unit l8.

Because of the foraminous nature of the screen sheets, gas or air, inaddition to flowing through the main passages, may flow through thesheets from one passage to another. This cross flow causes turbulencewhich materially assists both the humidification and cleaning action ofthe apparatus.

Since many changes may be made in the invention without departing fromthe scope thereof, it is intended that the foregoing description and theaccompanying drawing be regarded as illustrative only and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a humidifier device of the character described, a casing, meansfor routing air through the casing, a removable liquid and gas contactunit within the casing, said unit comprising a plurality of closelypacked metallic screens having portions thereof crimped for themaintenance of desired spacing between adjacent screens, said screensproviding a plurality of closely spaced parallel passages, the screensafiording communication between passages, a spray device above the unit,and means for forcibly spraying liquid upon the screens wherebyhorizontal as well as vertical filaments comprising the screens receiveliquid discharged from the spray.

2. In a humidifier device of the character described, a casing, meansfor admitting air into the casing adjacent one end thereof and fordischarging it at the other end thereof, a fan within the casing, a gasand liquid contact unit removably mounted within the casing, said unitcomprising a pair of oppositely positioned members and an intermediateend member removably at tached to the opposite members, a plurality ofmetallic screens removably and slideably positioned within andsubstantially filling the unit, said screens providing a plurality ofparallel passages extending in the direction in which air flows throughthe device, a spray positioned above the unit for forceably deliveringliquid upon the screens, the liquid flowing in a downwardly directionthrough the unit, the air passing through the unit in an upwardlydirection in contact with the screens.

3. In a humidifier device of the character described, a casing, a fanwithin the casing for routing air therethrough, screen holding memberscomprises a separable unit positionedwithin the casing, a plurality ofmetallic screen sheets slideably and removably positioned between theholding members, spacing means integral with and forming part of thescreen material for providing a plurality of parallel air passages whenthe screen sheets are packed'one behind the other, a spray devicepositioned above the unit for forceably delivering liquid upon thepacked screens, the air flowing through said passages in contact withthe wetted screens.

HENRY L. GALSON.

